The present invention relates generally to ready-to-assemble furniture and pocket doors therefor.
Traditionally, large residential furniture units such as entertainment centers have been manufactured and assembled at a manufacturing facility and shippped to a point of retail sale to a consumer. Such units are designed and manufactured to be shipped and sold as an assembled unit. This kind of design and manufacture of furniture is effective when the furniture sells in relative proximity to its place of manufacture because shipping costs are relatively low. The competitive marketplace, along with shifting labor market realities, however, has spurred the design and manufacture of furniture outside the U.S. intended for sale in the vast U.S. market.
Because in many cases furniture manufacturing can be accomplished at much lower costs far from the marketplace, ready-to assemble furniture has become increasingly popular of late. Ready-to-assemble furniture is that which is designed to be manufactured and shipped to a point of retail in unassembled form for assembly by retailers or consumers. Bookshelves, tables, beds and entertainment centers are especially viable pieces for the ready-to-assemble marketplace because such pieces have traditionally been constructed from relatively planar components that lend themselves readily to economic packaging and shipping. Manufacturers may encounter problems, however, incorporating basic features into ready-to-assemble furniture because such features may be difficult to package and ship cost-effectively or difficult to assemble by retailers and consumers.
One of the basic features widely available in furniture products that are difficult to include in ready-to-assemble furniture are pocket doors, which are doors—usually on the front of a case—that are selectively retractable into the case. Such doors are popularly used in entertainment centers in front of an area intended for a television.
Thus, there remains a need for a new and improved furniture unit that includes features such as pocket doors, while at the same time, is cost-effective to ship great distances, and is easily assembled by a consumer or retailer.